Bon-Ton uses RFID technology to improve the display management of luggage and footwear products
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After using RFID technology in the footwear and luggage areas of 180 stores, the department store chain Bon-Ton will seek new ways to use RFID technology. In the past two years, the company has been deploying this technology to track whether shoes and bags in stores are in stock.
The system was launched in 2014 and was tested on footwear products in 3 stores. In 2015, the system was extended to other stores. Last year, the system began to be used for luggage tracking. Bon-Ton is planning to use the technology to track other high-value products. This solution, called Inventory Management, is provided by Zebra, using a handheld MC3190-Z RFID reader, UHF RFID tags, and Bon-Ton’s own software for data management.
Bon-Ton operates Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s, Younkers and other brand stores. The company said that since the company used RFID technology, it has reduced the violation rate by approximately 20%. Lisa Celebre, vice president of store operations at Bon-Ton, said that every missing display item will cause a loss of sales.
In the past, the sales staff in each store would manually check the display items to ensure that all the shoes were displayed in the store. However, this is a time-consuming process and error-prone. Celebre said the company hopes to use technology to improve the efficiency and accuracy of verification.
In 2015, the company began to trial RFID technology on footwear products. Initially, the company conducted trial runs in 3 stores. The company attached a UHF RFID tag to each display sample shoe, and the tag ID was bound with the SKU information in the Zebra management software. After several months of trial operation, the company expanded the technology to 25 stores and expanded to 180 stores in early 2017.
Every day, 2 company employees use MC3190-Z card readers to take inventory. After the handheld device reads the ID number, it forwards the data to the software and binds it with the relevant data.
After the label is read, the store salesperson can access the software, check the list of items, and confirm whether there are any abnormalities, such as missing shoes. Usually, they print the results and look for missing samples. If the missing shoe cannot be found, the employee can go to the warehouse to select another sample shoe, attach the label and upload it to the system.
These data can be accessed not only by warehouse managers or managers, but also by office employees. In this way, they can check the problem daily and solve it in time.
Celebre said: “The staff are quite satisfied with the trial results of the system. They are very happy to find such an efficient and accurate system.”
After the trial in the shoe store, the company began to use it in luggage stores. Celebre said that luggage products are another challenge for accurate display management. In the past, samples of luggage and bags on display may be out of stock, which means that the store may lose a single sale.
Celebre said: “By using this technology, the company’s sales have increased to a certain extent.”
At the same time, she also said that sales growth is only a measure of technological advantage. She said: “We were surprised by the customer’s response. The store reported that the customer noticed a certain improvement in the number of exhibits. At the same time, the workload of the staff has also been reduced.”
Now, the company is investigating whether the technology may be extended to other products. Currently, some Bon-Ton products have RFID tags attached. As the number increases, stores will use these tags to track inventory.
In addition, the increased demand for omni-channel sales will also promote the increase in the adoption rate of RFID by retailers and brands. Once most products use RFID tags, users will be able to place orders online and pick up the goods locally. Employees can also use the Geiger mode of the card reader to quickly find the location of items.
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